Raven. Photo: Tim Melling
Excellent news from Raptor Persecution UK – SNH rejects 2019 licence application for Strathbraan Raven cull.
That’s good news on which to end the week. Well done to Ruth Tingay and the Scottish Raptor Study Group for taking their challenge. I’m glad I contributed to their crowdfunder.
But what are our statutory nature conservation agencies doing to get themselves into such disastrous messes where they are regularly being shown to be standing on the wrong side of the laws relating to wildlife protection? Why was there a Raven cull in Strathbraan last year when the science behind the cull was so appallingly absent? Not weak, absent. See SNH admit Raven cull error but fail to apologise for it and That damning report on the Raven cull (both from July last year).
SNH have done the right thing this year, but the correspondence revealed on the RPUK blog makes it look as though SNH are very shy about telling the world what they’ve done and why they’ve done it, so it’s difficult to feel kindly to them even when they do the right thing. And no-one thinks, do they, that this would have happened without a small group of individuals (not any of the large powerful nature conservation organisations) taking tough legal action and continuing to follow it up?
Again, well done Ruth and the Scottish Raptor Study Group!
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That is excellent news. I wrote to SNH when the cull was made public and pointed out the flaws in science. The response was formulaic and dismissive. My next letter was treated as a formal complaint. However, what helped was the social media blitz which provided a means for us punters to express our outrage and to get engaged via Crowdfunding, etc. It proves that social media can be a potent force – for good.
Well done Ruth Tingay and Scottish Raptor Study Group, indeed.
This is a fantastic and encouraging result. Really, really pleased. I emailed Roseanna Cunningham’s dept when I heard of the proposals via Raptor Persecution on Twitter last yr. I did get a standard response (eventually) but to no avail, which is why I added a Raven, along with Hare and Badger to my Clash inspired ‘LET’S END CULLING’ placard for the Peooples Walk for Wildlide last year, as the suspension to me, was otherwise only ever going to be a delay.
Common sense prevails.
*Huge* thanks must go to Ruth Tingay and Raptor Persecution UK and everyone who stands up for these awesome birds.
Long live Ravens.
… Or even, ‘The People’s Walk for Wildlife ‘
Apologies.
(The Peooples Walk for Wildlide was an entirely different event) …
Jan – don’t worry! Wildlife and Wildlide are right next to each other on the keyboard
‘The Peooples Walk for Wildlide’ – was that the Dutch one?
This is another excellent result, and further congratulations are due to Mark, Ruth and the SRSG for all their work. Hope you guys are going to ‘keep up the pressure’ and not allow SNH or NE to wriggle their way back over time to something almost indistinguishable from the old, discredited system.
Should some credit also go to Jason Endfield? He started a petition against the killing of Ravens, which he later extended to include other species killed under licences issued by NE. I know this is not aimed precisely at the Strathbraan killing, but his petition has gained 316,000 signatures so far which may have had an influence.
He has also written a couple of blog articles on licences more generally, which I thought were worth a read: http://jasonendfield.weebly.com
AlanTwo – thanks. But this one iis nothing to do with me so it’s all down to Ruth and the rest of the SRSG crew.
Sycophancy apart, I think you’re too modest. My view is that these different campaigns have a synergistic effect – serious pressure on one body makes the other related organisations stop and think a bit about exactly what they’re doing and what the consequences might be for them.
Certainly think that this is the case with this years raven application. SNH gave RPUK the run-around for a while which made me think that, yes, there is a licence application and, yes, they are stalling as it had probably been granted. I am very pleased to have been proved wrong! I feel certain that the ‘Wild Justice’ success with the GL action will have caused some jitters in SNH HQ that WJ would be coming for them had they gone ahead and granted it!
Now, how to stop anglers getting culls for cormorant and river ducks in Scotland going through on a wink and a nod too?
Great Result.
Any news on SNH granting a licence to cull gooseander and cormorant on the Tweed?